Politics

Ted Cruz vows total repeal, no piecemeal fixes for failed ObamaCare

By Andrew Malcolm04/04/2013 08:54 AM ET

Republican Sen. Ted Cruz has called for the complete legislative repeal of ObamaCare and its replacement by comprehensive healthcare reforms that actually increase patient choice, decrease the role of government bureaucrats and disconnect health insurance from employment.

"If you lose your job," Cruz said, "you don't lose your house, life or car insurance. They go with you wherever you go." It should be the same for health insurance.

In a wide-ranging exclusive interview with IBD's weekly M&M podcast, the Texas freshman said, "Our first priority is repealing ObamaCare and repealing it in its entirety. The program isn't working." And he added, it's already killing jobs, curtailing work hours and benefits.

Cruz is a 42-year-old political neophyte (senator is his first elected office) who rode to an upset GOP primary runoff and a general election victory last year on a potent collective wave of dissatisfaction with status quo political forces in the Lone Star state and beyond.

The Princeton cum laude graduate credits the Tea Party, Sarah Palin and the conservative blogosphere with his win. But the fact is, like someone else who once was in the Senate and moved on to higher office, Cruz has earned a reputation for eloquence and clear communication of complex ideas. These are skills honed as Texas' first Hispanic solicitor general, in private practice and teaching Supreme Court litigation at the University of Texas.

In his prime-time speech to the Republican National Convention last August and as keynoter for last month's Conservative Political Action Conference, Cruz disdains a podium to stroll the teleprompter-free stage, as if before a jury, sharing his well-organized and seeming spontaneous thoughts with the audience. It's a sincerity-enhancer and an effective contrast with many pols who read their remarks robotically.

Cruz joins other conservative newcomers to Washington such as Marco Rubio, Pat Toomey and Rand Paul as challengers to an entrenched party establishment there often perceived outside the Beltway as more committed to legislative maneuvering and insufficiently committed to fiscal conservatism.

"There's no doubt Washington is broken," Cruz asserts. "Unfortunately, we've seen for a long time career politicians I believe from both parties who were complicit in expanding the size and power of the federal government to the point where we have a $16.5 trillion national debt."

Drew Angerer / Getty Images

"I think," Cruz added, "that's just fundamentally immoral."

During the podcast interview Cruz also denounced "an incredible assault on Second Amendment rights" by Democrats "trying to push an extreme anti-gun agenda" in the emotional aftermath of tragedies like the Newtown shootings.

In 2010, Cruz asserted, 70,000 people seeking to purchase firearms were denied permission thanks to background checks. Of those 70,000, the father of two daughters said, 15,000 were felons and fugitives. And of those 15,000, the Obama Justice Department prosecuted 44.

"I think we should be devoting our energy and resources to prosecuting felons and violent criminals," Cruz said, "rather than stripping away the (constitutional) rights of law-abiding citizens who pose no threat."

As are most new faces on the nation's political stage, especially when one party is essentially leaderless, Cruz was asked about possible White House ambitions. A lifelong U.S. citizen, Cruz was born in Calgary, Canada to an American mother living there while her husband worked in the oil industry.

Like virtually all respondents to that query, Cruz wisely chose to answer another question, saying:

"My mind and my energies are focused 100% on the U.S. Senate. Our liberties are under assault. Our economic and fiscal challenges are the greatest I've ever seen. And the Senate is the battleground."

Cruz also talked about the Obama administration's assault on religious liberties and in more detail on the kinds of real healthcare reforms he favors.